‘Offense offsets receiving woes’ Hyundai E&C advances to semifinals with second straight shutout win

Hyundai E&C has qualified for the semifinals of the 2023 Gumi Dodram Cup Professional Volleyball Tournament.
Hyundai E&C swept Pepper Savings Bank 3-0 (25-21 25-16 25-19) in three sets in the second match of the Women’s Group A on July 31 at Park Jung-hee Gymnasium in Gumi. Hyundai E&C secured its spot in the semifinals with its second straight shutout win, following its victory over KGC Ginseng Corporation on July 29.

Both teams left something to be desired. “I’d like to play multiple players as much as possible, but I can’t just play the same player in the outside hitter (left) position, so I’m thinking of rotating players and checking the reception when I have time,” said Hyundai E&C head coach Kang Sung-hyung before the game. Pepper Savings Bank head coach Joe Trinzi also emphasized that “what we need to improve from the first game is our reception and offense after reception.” However, Hyundai E&C had a receiving efficiency of 19.23% and Pepper Savings Bank had 19.40%.

In terms of offense, it was difficult for Pepper Savings Bank to overcome Hyundai E&C, which was led by middle blocker Yang Hyo-jin (18 points, 61.90% attack percentage), outside hitter Kim Ju-hyang (13 points, 21.82%), and outside hitter Hwang Yeon-ju (12 points, 44.44%). Pepper Savings Bank’s free agent signing, outside hitter Park Jung-ah, played her first official match since joining the team as a substitute, but it was not much of a boost as she is still recovering from national team fatigue.

Hyundai E&C’s reception was unstable and it took them until the middle of the first set. However, Pepper Savings Bank didn’t have the offense to overcome HMC’s shaky reception. Meanwhile, HMC quickly changed the atmosphere with Yang Hyo-jin. After the score was tied at 20-20, Kim Joo-hyang shook the opponent’s camp with her sharp serves. In the second set, HCE stabilized their unstable lineup and improved their set receive efficiency to 37.50%. Hwang Yeon-ju led the offense to take an early lead. With the momentum in their favor, Hyundai E&C continued to dominate Pepper Savings Bank with their offense in the third set. 안전놀이터
Regardless of the win or loss, there were clear takeaways for both teams. “It was a reception battle,” said Kang, “and the reason we struggled was because of our reception. This situation can happen again (in the regular season). We have to do our homework on what to do when our receiving line is shaky.” “We served well enough to shake up their reception, but we struggled to defend,” Trinzi said.